10 THE HISTORY OF A NUT-CRACKER.

would be very glad if the year
always commenced with the
2nd of January. But in Ger-
many the great day for presents
is the 24th of December, the
one preceding Christmas Day.
Moreover, in Germany, child-
ren’s presents are given in a
peculiar way. A large shrub
is placed upon a table in the
drawing-room; and to all its
branches are hung the toys to
be distributed among the child-
ren. Such play-things as are
too heavy to hang to the shrub,
are placed on the table; and
the children are then told that f
it is their guardian angel who PR
sends them all those pretty
toys. This is a very innocent